Spurred on by a season-high crowd, the Halifax Rainmen hiked their winning streak to three with a 122-104 victory over the Saint John Mill Rats on Friday night at the Metro Centre.

Playing in front of 3,562 fans, the hosts used a prolonged surge beginning in the second quarter to quiet their Maritime rivals, who had come into the National Basketball League of Canada contest on a three-game unbeaten spree of their own.

Joey Haywood, one of six Rainmen in double figures, topped the victors with 26 points. Taliek Brown scored 18 to go along with 11 assists and newcomer Tyrone Levett, acquired in a trade with London on Monday, netted 17.

"We moved around the ball, played as a team and that’s what we’ve gotta do," Haywood said. "We’ve got a lot of weapons on the team and the coach is being fair with us and giving a lot of us playing time."

Halifax (3-2) and Saint John (3-4) were tied 27-27 after the first quarter and were still trading baskets at the halfway point of the second, deadlocked at 42-42.

But a Crookshank jumper from the foul line started a 14-2 run that put Halifax up by a dozen with 3½ minutes left in the half and the Rainmen didn’t ease off the gas. They ended up outscoring the Rats 52-31 over an 18-minute span to carry a 94-73 advantage into the final quarter.

"We played defence," Haywood said when asked what had changed to produce the big momentum swing. "Coach (Pep Claros) is emphasizing ‘play defence, play defence, play defence,’ and that’s what we’re doing right now."

The former Saint Mary’s Huskie said the team had discussed before the game the importance of containing star guard Anthony Anderson. The league’s leading scorer was coming off a 35-point performance against Summerside on Thursday night and dropped 27 against the Oshawa Power on Monday.

Anderson had 19 points, second on the Mill Rats to Steve DeLuca’s 22-point effort, but the extra attention prevented any big quarters. He never scored more than six points in a period.

"We just pressured him, we doubled him and I think we got in his head a little bit," said Haywood, one of a number of Rainmen tasked with trying to limit Anderson’s output.

The Rainmen shot 49 per cent from the field en route to their best offensive showing of the season, topping their 121-point outing in a win over the Moncton Miracles on Nov. 10.

Levett helped boost that percentage, going 8-for-12 from the floor in his Halifax debut.

The six-foot-five small forward, picked up in a deal that sent former NBAer Rodney Buford to the Lightning, said he was happy to get his Rainmen career off to a strong start and reward the confidence Claros showed in his abilities by playing him for nearly 21 minutes.

He said the trade initially caught him off guard but he soon recognized the benefits.

"I was a little puzzled at first but I think it’s a better fit that I am here," said the 31-year-old, who scored nine straight points during a stretch late in the game.

"I’m getting a chance to do a lot more that I’m comfortable with, doing the things that I’m used to doing."

RAINDROPS: The Rainmen don’t play again until Nov. 27, when they’re in Oshawa to meet the Power.